“It’s the eye test, what you prefer to watch” – Giannis Antetokounmpo names his top five players in the world at the moment

The last seven MVP award winners were all international players – Giannis Antetokounmpo won it twice, Nikola Jokic three times and Joel Embiid and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were seen as the Most Valuable Players once.

It’s surprising that Luka Doncic has never appeared on this list so far, despite several phenomenal seasons.

On the other hand, the impression is that the upcoming U.S. players are still not that first tier of NBA superstars and that their best players are still LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, which was perhaps most evident at the 2024 Olympics when the USA wouldn’t win the Gold without those three legends.

Still, when talking about the top NBA players, it’s always a subjective debate.

In an interview with the Greek media outlet Sport24, Giannis gave his take on the five best players in the world right now and he left out some of the biggest names.

“It’s the eye test, what you prefer to watch. I believe me, Luka, Jokic, SGA and Tatum are the top five right now. I prefer two-way players. I like Anthony Edwards, Anthony Davis, and Kawhi [Leonard]. I like dogs,” Giannis said.

It’s hard to ignore the fact that he still hasn’t won an MVP award

Although the first four picks would be agreed upon by the vast majority, the choice of Jayson Tatum is particularly intriguing.

Even though with the Boston Celtics he has perhaps been the most consistent superstar in recent seasons, it’s hard to ignore the fact that he still hasn’t won an MVP award, while also missing out on Finals MVP during the Celtics championship run.

Still, everything he has accomplished with the Celtics in recent seasons gives him the right to be in these conversations, but in the top five? It’s tough to put him there.

In ESPN’s offseason survey on who will be the best player in five years, by an anonymous assistant coach from the West, Tatum was at the very top.

“There’s no one who has that shot profile. He’s what everyone wishes they have: A 6-foot-10 guy who shoots 3s, gets to the rim and gets fouled,” an anonymous Western Conference assistant coach said, as Tim Bontemps wrote.

We will continue to watch great MVP battles

Alongside Anthony Edwards and Cooper Flagg, Tatum is certainly the biggest U.S. star right now who should only get better in years to come.

Still, we need to be realistic when comparing those guys with someone like Embiid, who in the span of two years won two scoring titles and an MVP award and in the season before last was on the best possible path to pair those awards again until injuries slowed him down.

Be that as it may, the league is in a very good place when it comes to young talent, while the current superstars still have a few more elite years left in them for sure.

For some time we will continue to watch great MVP battles between Jokic, Shai, Embiid, Doncic and Giannis, while U.S. stars like James, Curry, and Durant, despite their top-level performances, are heading toward the end of their careers and are fully focused on team success.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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